8 THE SOUTH AFRICAN PIPE CALABASH. 



smoothly over the surface of the plaster. Before doing this a little 

 of the plaster of Paris should be scrajied out to allow for the thickness 

 of cork. If too much is removed and the bowl is loose the difficulty 

 can be corrected by cutting down the edge of the gourd. This can 

 best be done with a fiat file or by holding the end of the gourd against 

 the side of a grindstone. When properly done the meerschaum bowl 

 fits snugly, but is easily removed by a twist of the fingers when the 

 pipe is to be cleaned. 



This is the completed pipe, and with all the necessary things at 

 hand it can be made in half an hour. (PI. II, fig. 2.) 



Many smokers prefer a push stem and the calabash lends its?lf 

 readily to this style of pipe. Recourse must again be had to the 

 tobacconist for the mouthpiece, and this time instead of the bone 

 nipple a ferrule of suitable size must be secured. The operation is 

 exactly the same as for the fitting of the screw stem up to the time 

 that the hole is made in the small end with a pocket knife. For a 

 push stem this should be continued until the hole is slightly larger 

 than the stem to be used. If the ferrule is of the proper size it is 

 then only necessary to force it into place over the end of the gourd and 

 the pipe is complete. 



When a push stem is used the bowl can be made entirely of plaster 

 of Paris and the cost of the pipe still further reduced. A thin piece 

 of cardboard with a central perforation is fitted into the gourd just 

 below the point where the bottom of the bowl is to come. A thin 

 mixture of plaster of Paris is then poured into the gourd to form a 

 layer about a quarter of an inch thick on the pasteboard disk. Any 

 smooth cylindrical object, such as a homeopathic vial with a diameter 

 suitable for the inside of a bowl, is well greased and placed upright 

 in the end of the gourd to form a core. The space around the core is 

 then filled Math plaster of Paris, and as soon as it has begun to set 

 the core is removed. A small perforation in the bottom of the bowl 

 about the size of a large knitting needle is made as soon as the plaster 

 of Paris has completely set and the pipe is complete. 



This style of bowl is permissible in a push -stem pipe, since the 

 pipe can be readily cleaned from the stem end, thus obviating the 

 necessity of a removable bowl. 



A well-made calabash pipe will appeal to the discriminating pipe 

 smoker as possessing the much valued characteristics of the long 

 German pipe in a much more convenient form. The bowd occupies 

 but a small part of the hollow neck and the remainder of the space 

 forms a receptacle below the bowl that answers the same purpose 

 as the lower bowl of the German pipe in keeping juices from entering 

 the stem and allowing the smoke to cool. 



ICir. 41] 



